Sunday, August 7, 2016

Road Trippin'

Pervasive Parenting 
By Kodey Toney

Road Trippin'

When raising a child on the autism spectrum, sometimes the most irritating things are the most rewarding when you look a little closer. 
I have talked in the past (check out past articles at http://pervasiveparenting.blogspot.com/search?q=Vacation&m=1) about how being a "normal" child at times can be one of the happiest moments for a parent. When your child lies, which can be rare, it's actually kind of nice because they are so literal or factual to a fault. Of course with Konner he will immediately tell me that he lied, but it was the attempt that counts.
I began revisiting this idea as we were in the car driving to Florida this weekend. We were on our long trek when Konner and Kruz began getting on each other's nerves. This is not unusual at all. In fact it happens all the time at home. 
Even though it annoyed me to no end in the confines of a mid-sized SUV after several hundred miles, after thinking it out I had to appreciate that they were just being "typical" siblings. 
My mind began to drift back to the mid 1980s and trips from Kansas City, Mo. to Shady Point, Ok. And back. My sister and I used to hang out in the back seat of whatever vehicle we might be riding in, and I would do anything I could to get a reaction out of her. After all this is what little brothers do. The slight difference between Konner and my sister is that he is a powder keg about to explode into a meltdown at any second. Sure, she might hit me when I pushed her to the breaking point, but she wouldn't turn into a glassy-eyed monster with uncontrollable violence and screaming induced by overstimulation. 
As strange as it seems to many parents, and as annoying as it is at the time, it's kind of nice to have these little typical moments in life. 
Also, it's nice that we can just take a vacation. There were times when he was younger we didn't know if it was such a good idea, but we have built up his tolerance enough that we can take him pretty much anywhere we want to go.

No comments:

Post a Comment